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MP Dean Del Mastro faces election-related charges

OTTAWA—Charges of wilfully exceeding election spending and donation limits have cost Peterborough MP Dean Del Mastro his seat within the Conservative caucus and his job as a parliamentary secretary.

Elections Canada on Thursday formally charged Del Mastro, the federal MP for Peterborough, and his official agent, Richard McCarthy, with exceeding election spending and donation limits in the 2008 campaign, and knowingly filing a false or misleading election report.

Within hours, in an emailed statement to the Star, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s spokesman Jason MacDonald told the Star “Mr. Del Mastro is no longer a member of the Conservative caucus.”

Losing his job as a parliamentary secretary means he loses a $16,000 stipend, but Del Mastro stands to lose much more than that. The charges carry stiff penalties upon conviction.

The official Opposition had called for Del Mastro’s ouster as parliamentary secretary and from Conservative caucus, but on Thursday the NDP stopped short of demanding he quit his seat.

However, in televised interviews, house leaders for the NDP and Liberals — Nathan Cullen and Dominic Leblanc — questioned whether Del Mastro could adequately represent his constituents with a legal cloud over his head.

Commissioner of Canada Elections Yves Côté, who is responsible for enforcing federal elections law, consulted with the independent office of the Director of Public Prosecutions — a body created by the federal Conservative government — and laid the four charges in a Peterborough court.

“In our electoral system, it is fundamentally important that the spending and contribution limits enacted by Parliament be respected. It is also essential that the reports and information provided to Elections Canada be accurate and truthful,” said Côté in a news release.

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“The level-playing field principle and the requirement for transparency call for nothing less. We will continue to be vigilant to ensure that these rules are observed.”

The charges allege the two men exceeded the legal campaign spending limit in Peterborough of $92,655.79; willfully failed to report a $21,000 contribution and a matching expenditure “and instead reported an election expense of $1,575.00,” which was supported by an allegedly “false and misleading” document. In addition, Del Mastro is charged with wilfully exceeding the contribution limit for a candidate — in his own election campaign.

Elections Canada alleges Del Mastro paid “an election expense of $21,000.00 out of his own funds, thereby making a contribution and, in so doing, wilfully exceeded the contribution limit of $2,100.00 for a candidate in his own election campaign.”

In a statement issued late Thursday, Del Mastro said he is innocent of any wrongdoing. “I entirely reject these allegations and look forward to the opportunity to defend myself in court.”

He said he will not step down as a Member of Parliament, but will support the Conservative government from outside caucus, portraying it all as his decision: “While it is my full intention to continue to support the government’s economic agenda and the principals for which it stands, I have advised caucus leadership that it is my intention to step out of caucus until this matter is resolved.”

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If found guilty, Del Mastro and McCarthy could face stiff penalties under the Elections Act. If the federal Crown proceeds by way of summary conviction, an offender faces fines of up to $2,000 or up to a year in jail or both. If the Crown elects to prosecute the charges as an indictable offence, the penalties go up to include fines of up to $5,000, up to five years in jail, or both.

The allegations must be proven in court. Del Mastro’s lawyer Jeffrey Ayotte could not immediately be reached for comment.

The NDP’s Cullen told reporters: “This is an incredibly serious and bad day for the Conservative Party of Canada.”

Citing scandal-tainted senators, candidates who benefited from robocalls, and former cabinet minister Peter Penashue, who resigned over accepting illegal election donations and went on to lose his seat, Cullen said the Conservatives have shown a “pattern of ethical lapses and corruption” with candidates who “challenged the last elections under conditions that were unfair.”

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Del Mastro, first elected in 2006 and re-elected in 2008 and 2011, was shuffled last week to the job of parliamentary secretary for the government’s economic development agencies in the North and in Ontario. It was a big step down from his past position as parliamentary secretary to Harper and the minister of intergovernmental affairs, and the Conservative government’s go-to defensive guard in the Commons.

After the Ottawa Citizen and Postmedia reported questionable contributions in Del Mastro’s campaign last year, he was politically sidelined.

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